Every society feels an obligation and responsibility to foster children with good moral character. A certain amount of debate takes place over this topic as not all adults agree on what good moral character is or how to instill this in children. Issues often debated are:
Does a person of good moral character support traditional behaviors or challenge them?
What age is appropriate to begin learning these qualities?
How do children develop moral character?
The development of moral character has often changed as society has changed. Most recently, behaviors can be defined by the technological advances we have made. The information age has brought to light the ideals of truthfulness, honesty, integrity, and individual responsibility just to name a few. How do we measure character?
Bennett (1993) proposed a list of cultural indicators that he believes could be used as measures of the character of our society. In addition, he cited a number of social trends that he believes have impacted these indicators. The following table provides an overview of how these have changed from 1960 to 1990. One would hope factors such as increased spending on education would have led to improvements in leading cultural indicators, but the opposite is seen in a review of the data. |||| General Social Trends
Leading Cultural Indicators
US Population
Inc. 41%
Avg. Daily TV Viewing
Inc. to 7hrs.
Gross Domestic Product
Inc. 270%
% Illegitimate Births
Inc. 419%
Social Spending (All Levels of Govt.)
Inc. 550%
Children on Welfare
Inc. 340%
Spending on Welfare
Inc. 630%
Children Living With Single Parents
Inc. 300%
Spending on Education
Inc. 225%
Teen Suicide Rate
Inc. 200%
Violent Crime Rate (Per 100,000)
Inc. 470%
Median Prison Sentence (Violent Crimes)
Dec. 30%
SAT Scores
Dec. 76 pts.
There are several arenas where moral character can be developed such as the home, school, and community inclusive of businesses and media. School is certainly the most preferred. In two more recent Gallup (1975, 1980) surveys of public attitudes toward public schools, 79% of respondents indicated they favor "instruction in schools that would deal with morals and moral behavior." Educators must develop a curriculum inclusive of opportunities to develop moral and character. A review of research by Wynne (1989) reports that the quality of relationships among faculty (and between the faculty and adults in authority) is a major factor in the development of student character.
Of importance to note is the relative lack of interest in character education in the last three decades has begun to change (Lickona, 1990). In 1987, the National School Boards Association proposed to the United States Department of Education a project, "Building Character in the Public Schools," designed to enhance character development in the schools through involvement of more than 15,000 local school boards in this country. The project had two overall goals:
to heighten national awareness of the importance of character development programs in local public schools to the continued success and stability of American society; and
to encourage the establishment and improvement of character development programs in public elementary and secondary schools.
The educational goals of academic competence and character development are both vital for future generations. One should not be taught without the other, but in conjunction with each other.
Webiography
Bennett, W. (1993, April 7). Is our culture in decline? Education Week, 12(28). 32.
Citation: Huitt, W. (2004). Moral and character development. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved October 6, 2013, from http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/morchr/morchr.html
Gallup, G. (1975, December). The seventh annual Gallup Poll of public attitudes toward public schools. Phi Delta Kappan, 57, 227-41.
Gallup, G. (1980, September). The twelfth annual Gallup Poll of public attitudes toward public schools. Phi Delta Kappan, 62, 39.
Lickona, T. (1991). Does character education make a difference? Salt Lake City: Utah State Office of Education. Retrieved December 1996, from http://www.usoe.k12.ut.us/curr/char_ed/resource/diff.html
Wynne, E. (1989). Transmitting traditional values in contemporary schools. In L. Nucci, Moral development and character education: A dialogue (pp. 19-36). Berkeley, CA: McCutchan.
Christopher Arminio
Educational Psychology
October 6, 2013
Moral/Character Development
Moral/Character DevelopmentEvery society feels an obligation and responsibility to foster children with good moral character. A certain amount of debate takes place over this topic as not all adults agree on what good moral character is or how to instill this in children. Issues often debated are:
The development of moral character has often changed as society has changed. Most recently, behaviors can be defined by the technological advances we have made. The information age has brought to light the ideals of truthfulness, honesty, integrity, and individual responsibility just to name a few. How do we measure character?
Bennett (1993) proposed a list of cultural indicators that he believes could be used as measures of the character of our society. In addition, he cited a number of social trends that he believes have impacted these indicators. The following table provides an overview of how these have changed from 1960 to 1990. One would hope factors such as increased spending on education would have led to improvements in leading cultural indicators, but the opposite is seen in a review of the data.
|||| General Social Trends
There are several arenas where moral character can be developed such as the home, school, and community inclusive of businesses and media. School is certainly the most preferred. In two more recent Gallup (1975, 1980) surveys of public attitudes toward public schools, 79% of respondents indicated they favor "instruction in schools that would deal with morals and moral behavior." Educators must develop a curriculum inclusive of opportunities to develop moral and character. A review of research by Wynne (1989) reports that the quality of relationships among faculty (and between the faculty and adults in authority) is a major factor in the development of student character.
Of importance to note is the relative lack of interest in character education in the last three decades has begun to change (Lickona, 1990). In 1987, the National School Boards Association proposed to the United States Department of Education a project, "Building Character in the Public Schools," designed to enhance character development in the schools through involvement of more than 15,000 local school boards in this country. The project had two overall goals:
- to heighten national awareness of the importance of character development programs in local public schools to the continued success and stability of American society; and
- to encourage the establishment and improvement of character development programs in public elementary and secondary schools.
The educational goals of academic competence and character development are both vital for future generations. One should not be taught without the other, but in conjunction with each other.Webiography
Bennett, W. (1993, April 7). Is our culture in decline? Education Week, 12(28). 32.
Citation: Huitt, W. (2004). Moral and character development. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved October 6, 2013, from http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/morchr/morchr.html
Gallup, G. (1975, December). The seventh annual Gallup Poll of public attitudes toward public schools. Phi Delta Kappan, 57, 227-41.
Gallup, G. (1980, September). The twelfth annual Gallup Poll of public attitudes toward public schools. Phi Delta Kappan, 62, 39.
Lickona, T. (1991). Does character education make a difference? Salt Lake City: Utah State Office of Education. Retrieved December 1996, from http://www.usoe.k12.ut.us/curr/char_ed/resource/diff.html
Wynne, E. (1989). Transmitting traditional values in contemporary schools. In L. Nucci, Moral development and character education: A dialogue (pp. 19-36). Berkeley, CA: McCutchan.
Christopher Arminio
Educational Psychology
October 6, 2013